G8 Summit 2007

President George W. Bush gestures as he addresses a roundtable on free-market democracy at the American University in Sofia, Bulgaria, Monday, June 11, 2007, joined by Stanko Stankov, left, and Olga Borissova, the director of American University in Bulgaria Center. White House photo by Eric Draper White House photo by Eric Draper

Endorsed the Presidents initiative to convene the major energy consuming and greenhouse gas emitting economies to agree on a new international framework by the end of 2008, including a long-term global goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions;

Agreed to prepare national reports evaluating G-8 member states efforts to implement the energy security principles agreed to at the St, Petersburg Summit in 2006;

Reaffirmed commitment to work towards the reduction or, where appropriate, elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers to environmental goods and services through the WTO Doha negotiations;

Will develop and implement national energy efficiency programs and to advance international energy efficiency cooperation;

Agreed to help finance shortfalls of well designed and accountable education plans for African countries, and recognized the importance of supporting learning outside the classroom;

Will continue to help build capacity of the AUs Africa Standby Force, including an African Volunteer Service;

Will work towards meeting demand driven funding needs of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and to support greater attention and appropriate resources from the Fund to address the needs of women and girls;

Set a goal of enabling, in the next few years, the 30 highest malaria burden countries in Africa to halve their malaria related deaths; and

Set a goal of supporting treatment for five million HIV/AIDS  infected individuals, preventing 24 million new infections, and caring for 24 million people, including 10 million orphans and vulnerable children.

Doha

G-8 Leaders Stressed the Importance of Promptly Concluding an Ambitious and Balanced Doha Development Agenda Agreement that benefits Developed and Developing Countries. The G-8:

Called on all WTO Members to demonstrate the flexibility needed to conclude the negotiations by the end of 2007 and reiterated the importance of trade capacity building in helping developing countries best take advantage of new opportunities resulting from trade liberalization.

Counterterrorism

G-8 Leaders:

Supported the central role of the UN in combating terrorism and called for rapid conclusion of the UN comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism; and

Agreed to work together and with other stakeholders on a comprehensive economic strategy for development in the Afghanistan and Pakistan border region;

Will counter the conditions that terrorists exploit, protect critical transport and energy infrastructures, combat the financing of terrorism, and remain vigilant against terrorist use of the internet;

Strengthen efforts to combat the abuse for terrorist or other criminal purposes of informal methods of transferring money across borders, particularly by cash couriers; and

Work together to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists.

Heiligendamm Process

G-8 Recognized The Growing Importance Of Emerging Economies.

The G-8 agreed to:

Launch the Heiligendamm Process  a high level dialogue between G-8 countries, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa to address innovation, freedom of investment, development in Africa, and energy efficiency and to provide reports at the next two G-8 Summits.

Darfur

G-8 Leaders Continued Their Efforts To Address The Ongoing Violence And Humanitarian Crisis In Darfur. The G-8:

Appealed to all parties to facilitate delivery of humanitarian assistance and to respect international humanitarian law;

Called on the UN, the AU and the Government of Sudan for speedy deployment of the UN heavy support package to the peacekeeping mission;

Call on the Government of Sudan to urgently agree to the UN-AU hybrid force; and

Called on parties to continue implementation of the North-South Comprehensive Peace Agreement in order to create a united, peaceful, and democratic Sudan.

Open Global Economy

G-8 Leaders Emphasized That The International System Must Be Based On Shared Commitments To Open Markets, Transparency, And Investment Opportunities. The G-8 :

Pledged to strengthen open investment regimes and to fight investment protectionism while reaffirming limited investment restrictions on national security grounds;

Strengthen cooperation to combat counterfeiting and piracy of intellectual property rights both among the G-8 and with developing countries and

Ask the OECD to make recommendations on how to better enforce intellectual property rights.

Nonproliferation

G-8 Leaders Shared Strong Concerns About The Threats Of The Proliferation Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction. The G-8:

Pledged to counter the global proliferation challenge and continue to support and implement all non-proliferation statements issued at previous G-8 summits;

Agreed to take steps to ensure the international financial system is not used to finance proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and

Endorsed mechanisms assuring access to nuclear fuel-related services that provide states with an alternative to pursuing enrichment and reprocessing activities and continue the moratorium on the transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technology.

Governance

G-8 Leaders Emphasized The Importance Of Good Governance To Promote Investment And Development. The G-8 agreed to:

Support continued systematic monitoring of the OECD Anti Bribery Convention to ensure effective implementation of international anti-bribery obligations;

Deny safe haven to corrupt individuals and develop measures to prevent corrupt individuals from using the international financial system to access the gains from their criminal activities; and

Support good governance and anti-corruption initiatives, such as the Extractive Industry Initiative (EITI); and

Work towards developing a consolidated set of standards for the international mining sector.

G-8 Leaders Discussed How to Advance Common Interests in Critical Regions, Including:

Iran

G-8 Leaders Reiterated Their Profound Concern Over Irans Failure to Address International Concerns Over Its Nuclear Activities. The G-8:

Insist that Iran comply with its international obligations and UNSC Resolutions 1696,1737 and 1747, in particular its obligation to suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities to allow for negotiations on the P5+1 initiative;

Remain committed to a negotiated solution to address the proliferation concerns raised by Irans nuclear program.

DPRK

G-8 Leaders Strongly Condemned The Pursuit Of Nuclear Weapons By The North Korean Regime. The G-8 agreed to:

Reaffirm commitment to achieving the denuclearization of the Korea Peninsula;

Urge North Korea to promptly implement the agreement on Initial Actions of 13 February 2007 and the Joint Statement of September 19, 2005 in good faith; and

Urge North Korea to address effectively human right concerns of the international community including abductions.

Israeli-Palestinian Issues

G-8 Leaders Expressed Their Commitment To The Creation Of A Viable, Sovereign, And Democratic Palestinian State, Living Side By Side In Peace And Security With Israel, Within Internationally Recognized Borders. The G-8 agreed to:

Support discussions between Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas regarding a political horizon -- consistent with the Roadmap and UNSCRs 242, 338, 1397 and 1515 -- with the Quartet playing a central role;

Call on the Government of the Palestinian Authority to commit fully to the principle of non-violence, recognize the right of Israel to exist, and accept previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements consistent with the Quartet statements of February 9 and 21 and March 21, 2007;

Reiterate their call on the Government of the Palestinian Authority to bring terrorist violence to an end; and

Welcome the Arab Peace Initiative as reaffirmed in the declaration of the Arab League Summit of March 29 and the continuing efforts to promote it as a contribution toward peace.

Lebanon

G-8 Leaders Expressed Support For A Sovereign Lebanon and for its Legitimate Government. The G-8 agreed to:

Support the legitimate and democratic government of Lebanon and urge a rapid solution to the current political deadlock;

Recognize the need to reinforce Lebanons sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence, and call for the full and speedy implementation of UNSCR 1701 and all other relevant Security Council resolutions;

Welcome the establishment of a Special Tribunal for Lebanon and urge all members of the international community to lend their support to and to cooperate with the Tribunal; and

Call on the Syrian government to fully implement UNSCRs 1559, 1636, 1680 and 1701 and to respect Lebanons sovereignty and refrain from interfering in Lebanese domestic affairs.

Support the democratically elected Government of Iraq and its efforts to restore public order, promote national reconciliation and the rule of law as well as economic reconstruction;

Condemn all acts of terrorism and politically motivated or sectarian attacks against the Iraqi population;

Support the Iraqi Governments efforts to engage neighboring states and the international community; and

Welcome the launching of the International Compacts with Iraq on 3 May 2007 in Sharm El Sheikh, hoping that benchmarks set by the Government of Iraq for its economic, political, security and social reform strategies will encourage Iraq to pursue these targets.

Afghanistan-Pakistan

G-8 Leaders Expressed Continued Support For Afghanistan In Achieving Its Security, Governance And Development Goals. The G-8 agreed to:

Welcome the progress Afghans achieved over the last year in their effort to build a secure, economically viable and democratic state free from terrorism and narcotics, and based on the rule of law;

Deplored the continuing threats to security that present an obstacle to the development of Afghanistan;

Renew its support for the UNs central leadership role in the countrys reconstruction efforts, and encourage the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan to expand its presence in the provinces; and

Support concrete projects that improve cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan on security, refugee issues, economic development, and promote people-to-people contacts.

President Bush to Attend Group of Eight (G-8) Summit in Germany and Travel
to the Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, Albania, and Bulgaria

President and Mrs. Bush will travel to Heiligendamm, Germany to attend the
G-8 Summit on June 6-8, 2007. The leaders of Canada, France, Italy, Japan,
Russia, and the United Kingdom will participate in the Summit along with
the German host, Chancellor Merkel. The European Union will also
participate. The leaders will discuss continued cooperation on a broad
range of international economic, security, and political issues.

Prior to the Summit, the President will visit Prague, Czech Republic on
June 5 for meetings with President Klaus and Prime Minister Topolanek.
While in Prague, the President will speak at an international conference,
"Democracy and Security: Core Values and Sound Policies."

Following the G-8, the President will travel to Jurata, Poland on June 8
for a meeting with President Lech Kaczynski. On June 9, he will visit the
Vatican for his first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, and Rome, Italy for
meetings with President Napolitano and Prime Minister Prodi. The President
will then proceed to Tirana, Albania on June 10 to meet with President
Moisiu and Prime Minister Berisha, before concluding his trip in Sofia,
Bulgaria, where he will meet on June 11 with President Parvanov and Prime
Minister Stanishev.